Monday, December 22, 2008

About 3 weeks ago we submitted our I-600A. This is the application filed with the federal government stating our intentions to adopt foreign born orphans, and make them US citizens. One of the things required for approval is fingerprinting.

USCIS (US Customs and Immigration Services) does the approving and fingerprinting. The fun part about that is they tell us when and where to show up, which gets interesting when you travel a lot.

While I didn't exactly show up at the required time, Steve and I both passed our fingerprinting. The cool part about all fingerprinting being electronic is the results are made available while the prints are taken. 5 minutes and that's it.

Anyway, the agent who approves the I-600A was there the day I went, and reviewed our application on the spot. He said we should get our I-171H (the official document from USCIS stating all the specifics of how many children, from what country, etc.) in the next 2 weeks!

Here is why all of this is amazing...the I-171H is kind of the "lynch pin" in the documentation. While there are 25 other documents required to be sent to Russia, the set of documents is not complete until the I-171H is approved, and in our hands. The average time to process this document is 60 days. I was on the website for the Cincinnati USCIS office last week, and the average time to process the I-600A was 60-90 days. As of today, it's been 28 days. 28 DAYS! Praise the Lord!

Monday, December 1, 2008

this came in the mail on Tuesday. this is the official receipt from the submission of our I-600A. it looks no different than the receipt for the Coke i bought at 7Eleven last week, however it is an official government document, as noted by the asterisks at the bottom.

Monday, November 24, 2008

it has been mailed...although, i just realized the version of the form we sent was expired, so maybe we will get to send it again. while trey, the dog, did not need to sign, he felt the need to add his paw print as well.

so one might ask, what does the federal government require in to form of paperwork? well, for starters, the application form. luckily, for adoptions from russia, the 2 page version is still acceptable, as opposed to the newly instituted 16 page form that other countries require.

second, a copy of birth certificates, marriage licensed, and the completed home study.

lastly, the most fun part of the whole packet. normally, i don't like to remember checks like this, but in all honesty, this is one of the smaller ones i will write in coming months.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

we finished our homestudy this week. we passed all the inspections, with flying colors, and have been approved to bring home 2 children. I never had any doubts.

I must also say that i've always heard the horror stories about the homestudy process. your house must be clean, and it must be perfect, and you must be perfect. not at all how it happened. our social worker was great - thanks angela. she didn't white glove the house, just checked to make sure we don't have any obvious hazard. to be perfectly honest, this was easier than i thought it would be.

next step, file our paperwork with the federal government, and finish collecting the rest of the required paperwork.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

we had our first homestudy visit last night. everything went rather well, and it wasn't as scary as it was made out to be. our fire and safety inspections are done (and no, our house wasn't raked with a fine tooth comb), now it's on to the questions about why we want to adopt and what kind of parent we think we will be. i hope everything else goes this smoothly.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

I am amazed and quickly becoming humbled by the generosity of others. We have had friends give us money for our adoption…that I understand. However, it still amazes me. They are giving us money, sacrificing Starbucks, and other things all to give to us so we can get children from Russia. What amazes me more is the generosity of virtual strangers. People we have met for a only a little bit are literally telling us that they will give money when we ask for it. Who are these people that have such big hearts? They are friends, they are strangers and I am grateful for them all. To all of you who have given, or have thought of giving thank you! For those of you who are praying or even thinking about us thank you!

Monday, June 2, 2008

So being the future Dad of the two children I thought I should post something. I'm not very good at writing but I'll try my best. The thought of suddenly having a family of four (six if you count our dogs) can at times be extremely overwhelming. Two children running around our house named Samuel Anton and Rowan Alexi. Brothers from another country unwanted by their birth parents, but wanted by Liz and me more than words can express. It reminded me of a verse that my life group is currently reading Romans 8:25-27

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patientlyIn the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

It's nice to know that all the nights I spent lying awake talking to God about why we can't have children he old fashioned Biblical begatting way was not in vain. He heard all my mental indiscerniblecries and understood what I meant even when I wasn’t sure. My doubt is slowly being replaced by joy even when the mountain of adoption seems to tall for me to climb I remember that God is the one that showed me this path so no matter how hard it gets He’ll carry me when I can go no farther.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

so things are starting to kick into high gear! we have all the paperwork for our homestudy, and the first visit set up for two weeks. my amazing friend laura has our first benefit planned for June 28th...more details to come.

one of our biggest challanges right now is picking a name for samuel's brother. steve and i can't agree thus far. you'll have a name for the rest of your life, and your parents will have you forever if it's not a good one:)

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

samuel antonfor those who don't know, we have decided to adopt from russia. our application has been approved, now comes the pile of paperwork required by the US and Russian governments. one thing we will get to do is to name our children(yes, that's right, children...we want to bring back brothers). we decided last week that the oldest of the 2 will be names samuel anton myers. while they will have somewhat "american" first names, we wanted them to have russian middle names...we decided on samuel for the first name because of the story of samuel in the Bible. hannah, his mother had prayed for years for a child, even saying "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life..." one day hannah found she was with child and rejoiced, she gave birth and called him samuel "Because I asked the LORD for him." we asked God for a child, and this was His response...not quite like hannah, but close enough.we wanted to have a middle name that started with the letter a...and i know, the poor kids initials will be the same as his name...as least he won't forget. we landed on anton which is russian for "to go into battle." ironically enough, it is also the last name of a friend of mine...but i don't think he husbands family is russian. anyway, i feel very much like samuel will literally go into battle and fight some spiritual wars. steve and i have always felt like our children will do some amazing things for the Kingdom of God, and the names seem fitting.samuel anton myers...wherever you are, we love you and can't wait to meet you!

for your little oneit still amazes me how amazed i am at the amazingness of God. steve and i have decided to adopt, and as we have started telling people, it seems like a billion resources have been presented to us, and even some unexpected ones.today a coworker walked up to me and handed me an envelope. "what this," i asked. "for you to read later," she said. i walked back to my desk, opened the envelope to find a card with a check inside...a blessing and a gift of support for our adoption. i balled my eyes out.this adoption process is so not for me, but rather for the glory of God and the kingdom. i never thought i would be so deeply touched by the people i work with everyday, or the child that i have yet to meet.thank you to my dear friend - your generosity is so undeserved and unexpected. i can't wait for you to meet our little one!

if he brings you to it...sometimes, for brief monents, i'm 7 years old again, and i'm thinking about what my life will be like 20 years in the future...and then i come back to reality. two years ago my husband and i made the decision that it was time to start a family. i always dreamed of what it would be like to hold my children in my arms, watch them grow up, take them to reds games, the park, to be a mom. two years later, we are starting the adoption process. we've been down a long road, allbeit not as long as some, of tests and medications and trips to the doctors and negative tests, and wishing and hoping and praying, and cliches. about 3 months ago we both sat in church and heard a newly adoptive parent talk about the experience, and how God calls us to love the orphans, and bring up a new generation that will love God and chase after Him...and we both got that big lump in our throats, the kind of lump you get where you can't swallow, and you know you are being called to action. since then, the feeling has only gotten stronger, and people who have also adopted have been placed in our lives...and then we got the pricetag. it doesn't seem right that 2 people with good jobs, who own a home, and who really want nothing more than to have children and live the American dream should have to pay that much money for a child. a living breathing human being who just wants to be loved and cared for as much as i want to love and care.i have several thoughts about all of this, the primary being if God has a hand in it, he will find a way to make this happen financially. second, be careful what you wish for...2 months ago, i publicly declared that 2 of my biggest dreams were to travel to europe before i turn 30, and to have children...Russia is the current county of interest, and i will be 30 in 2 years, the approximate length is will take to see this all through....sigh...

Monday, May 19, 2008

we decided to create a blog to keep all of our family and friends posted about our adoption of samuel (hence the blog name), and his yet to be named brother. steve and i will both be blogging here...hope you enjoy it.